Word Origin & History

telescope 1640s, from It. telescopio (used by Galileo, 1611), and Mod.L. telescopium (used by Kepler, 1613), both from Gk. teleskopos "far-seeing," from tele- "far" (see tele-) + -skopos "seeing," from skopein "to watch." Said to have been coined by Prince Cesi, founder and head of the Roman Academy of the Lincei (Galileo was a member). Used in English in Latin form from 1619. The verb meaning "to force together one inside the other" (like the sliding tubes of some telescopes) is first recorded 1867. Related: Telescopic.